Last September we all started out on a new adventure... school!
Remember this?
FIRST day!
ALL DONE with Kindergarten!
As Evelyn said, "It seems like I just started and now it's over!" I couldn't have said it better myself!
What a year it has been. Evelyn has experienced so much, learned so much, and grown so much these past 9 months. We are so proud of how hard she has worked and thankful this has been such an amazing year for her. Although there were days when she just wanted to "stay home and play", for the most part she was excited for school every day! While she soared academically (which was no surprise to us), her biggest growth came in her social skills. She has learned a lot about being courageous and speaking up, being a good classmate and friend, and standing up for what she believes in and doing the right thing. Not that learning those things came easy, and she still has lots to learn, but I can see the way she has blossomed so much in this area and for that I am thankful.
I have just begun to process my thoughts and feelings about this school year being over. Many mixed emotions for sure. One thing is for sure, my prayer life has increased ten fold, which I am thankful for! I know that God has held my baby girl (yes, I will probably always call her that!) close and walked with her this year. He gave me a peace that only He can give as I said goodbye to her every day. He knows, He sees, He guides, and He loves like no other. This has been so apparent to me this year.
One of the biggest blessings of the year was Mrs. Pearson, Evelyn's teacher. I knew the moment I met her at Kindergarten orientation over a year ago that she was going to be amazing. And she was. She loves what she does, she commands the classroom, and the kids know she is in charge and respect that (for the most part..haha!). She is not "gooey sweet", but loves her students dearly and it shows. Despite having 33 kids in her class (yes, 33), she made each kid feel important and excited to learn. It was such a treat to watch her work each week when I helped in the classroom. I will miss her probably as much as Evelyn. She is a gem.
I told Evelyn she needed to write a thank you note to Mrs. Pearson. Evelyn loves to read, and is already reading 2nd grade level things, but she isn't so fond of writing. The funny things is that like me, she expresses herself writing just as well if not better than talking. She can write, she just would rather not! :) But she wanted to make sure to thank her beloved teacher, so she sat down to write.
I did NOT expect this...
This was all done by her, from her heart. I was so touched.. and I know Mrs. Pearson was, too! (click the image to see it bigger)
On Tuesday, Mrs. Pearson highly suggested that Evelyn and I come to the end-of-year assembly at school Thursday, even tho it was in the morning (she is in PM kindy). I tried to press for more info, but got the impression that maybe they were going to acknowledge volunteers or something, and that it wasn't that big of a deal. I still thought it would be fun to have Evelyn see the assembly, so we went. I had NO idea what was to come.
Towards the end of the assembly, which was great, nothing had happened that involved us. Then Mrs. Marson, the principal, started talking about the Presidential Academic Achievement Awards, two gold and two silver, given to two students in each grade. Gold is for academic excellence, Silver is for improvement over the year. Well.. guess who got one of the gold awards? My Evelyn!! This proud momma was in a puddle of tears as Evelyn walked up in front of the whole school to get her awards with her friends. She was so excited!
The kindy award winners!
Evelyn and Abigail, both Gold Award winners and friends!
Jackie and Chase are two of the sweetest kids EVER and have worked SO hard this year to learn well and totally deserve the Silver Awards. So proud of them! Here are the four of them with Mrs. Pearson! She was pretty proud of them, too!
So proud of my girl! She is now determined to work hard and get this award EVERY year! Aim high, Evelyn!
Sending her off to class was hard! Seeing her walk down that hallway, hang her backpack on her hook.. this sappy soul held back the tears the best she could!
Thankfully Abigail's mom Rebecca is a normal Thursday helper and took my camera to capture moments of the last day.
The whole gang.. I will miss these sweet faces! I have come to love each of them over the year!
Mrs. Pearson doing "her thing"! The kids LOVE her!
The kids each had a paper with their name in big letters in the middle of it. Then the kids went around and signed their name on everyone's paper. A neat idea!
Evelyn's name paper!
The PM class got to participate in the 5th grade "Clap Out".. where the 5th graders get high fives from the entire school as they leave the school for the last time. The kids got a real kick out of that!
Here they come!
Time for one last story. Sigh....
Sweet Alissa... she has one of the most genuine smiles and a personality to match!
Evelyn getting her "I'm a First Grader" pencil at the end of class.
We love you, Mrs. Pearson!
After a tearful good bye to Mrs. Pearson and our friends (whom I am sure we will see this summer, so that makes it a bit easier!), we headed to Menchie's for frozen yogurt, Evelyn's choice of a celebratory treat.
My pretty baby...
Looking back over the past year with a smile, and ready to go forward with joy.. and with a FIRST GRADER!!
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